From Sandpawstorm's Perspective
by Briarpaw
Summary: Sandpaw is disgruntled when a cat that looks similar to the cat she dreamed about joins the clan. She looks for answers while strongly disliking the cat. But then he saved her life....
1. Chapter 1: Sandpaw's Dream

Chapter 1: Sandpaw's Dream

In the ThunderClan apprentices den, Sandpaw woke up to Longpaw prodding her, Dustpaw glaring at her and Ravenpaw staring at her. "Could you keep still?!" Dustpaw grumbled.

"Ravenpaw," Tigerclaw called from outside the den. "Get up now! Do you expect the mice to wait for you to sleep to sunhigh?"

Ravenpaw shuddered at his mentor's voice as he stumbled out of the den. Sandpaw shook her head. Ravenpaw had acted afraid of Tigerclaw since he had had him assigned as a mentor two days ago. He cringed whenever Tigerclaw criticized him and he made stupid mistakes in front of him. He hadn't even mastered the hunter's crouch yet!

Sandpaw shook her head. Ravenpaw would just have to toughen up! Whitestorm didn't go easy on her and Redtail did not go easy on Dustpaw. "Do you think Ravenpaw will fall asleep while he's hunting?" she asked Dustpaw and Longpaw.

Dustpaw frowned and turned his back, his fur ruffled. Longpaw meowed, "I don't know, but you were thrashing around like a fish out of water! What happened? Some weird dream? "

Sandpaw nodded. "Yeah. I dreamed that there was this cat I'd never seen before talking to me. He was on fire! He was like a ball of fire with green eyes. And he was standing on the Great Rock at Fourtrees and yowling a victory call. And there was this dead cat at his feet. And this dead cat had _teeth_ growing out of his neck. And this fire cat looked at me and said..." Her voice trailed off.

Dustpaw prompted her. "Yeah, this cat said what?"

Sandpaw stiffened. "I...I don't remember." The cat had said, "Are you sure you love Dustpaw?"

Of course I don't love Dustpaw, thought Sandpaw. I mean, yeah, I love him; he's like a brother to me. Dustpaw was only two weeks younger than her and the rest of both their litters had died of cold and illness the past winter. Sandpaw missed her real brother but was glad to have Dustpaw as a friend. So why did she feel so embarrassed now?

"Sandpaw, Dustpaw," called Redtail, who was Sandpaw's father and Dustpaw's mentor. "We're doing battle training today. Come out of your nests." Sandpaw and Dustpaw got up. Longpaw followed them out. He had an assessment with his mentor, Darkstripe, that day.


	2. Chapter 2: A Medicine Cat's Perspective

**So, everyone else points out that they don't own warriors at the top of their stories. I wish I owned warriors but I don't so I will have to say so too.**

**Hi, just so you know this chapter is supposed to take place maybe a moon or two before Rusty joins the clan. He will get here eventually, don't you worry!**

Chapter 2: A Medicine Cat's Perspective

"C'mon, Sandpaw," Whitestorm coaxed. "Come, meet your new den mate." Sandpaw padded reluctantly out of the den. She was tired out from training all day and just barely had enough energy to watch Willowpelt's kit become an apprentice. She really wanted to sleep a bit more. _I suppose it's my duty, though_, she thought.

Bluestar was already talking in the middle of the clearing, "Until the day that this apprentice has earned his warrior name, he will be called Graypaw. Lionheart, you are one of my most senior and trusted warriors. I trust that you will pass on your legendary courage and skill to this apprentice."

Graypaw trotted toward his new mentor. He was big for his age and his paws were a little too large for him. He walked a bit too quickly and stumbled in his path, falling over his front paws and careening into Lionheart. Many of the cats in the clearing laughed. Graypaw's whiskers twitched in embarrassment. Lionheart didn't laugh; instead he pulled the apprentice up to his feet by his scruff and touched noses with him. Sandpaw thought that she saw him whispering words of encouragement to Graypaw.

Bluestar continued. "By naming apprentices, we prove that our clan is still strong, despite the great losses of kits last winter. It is only the more important to train the surviving kits. It is my hope that after our recent losses against RiverClan, we can grow strong again." Her voice was grim, as she still remembered the battle of Sunnigrocks two days previously.

Sandpaw sat down next to Longpaw, who was whispering with Dustpaw. "Graypaw, Graypaw!" she called encouragingly. Ravenpaw, Longpaw and Dustpaw joined in. So did the rest of the Clan.

Willowpelt stood on the edge of the clearing, watching her son with pride. Next to her, another queen, Goldenflower and Willowpelt's sister, Spottedleaf, the medicine cat, were chatting in voices as proud as if Graypaw were their own.

Then out of the corner of her eye, Sandpaw saw Cinderkit and Brightkit, Frostfur's daughters, Brackenkit and Thornkit, her sons and Goldenflower's son, Swiftkit, playing out a mock apprentice ceremony. She snuck closer to watch.

"Hurry up, Thornstar!" urged Cinderkit excitedly.

"Do not rush the Clan leader," Thornkit replied so seriously that Sandpaw's whiskers twitched in amusement. "Now, until this apprentice has proved her worth, she will be called Brightpaw. But first," his eyes twinkled somewhat mischievously, "You must prove your worth by defeating the Clan leader in pitched battle." Must I?" asked Brightkit. "Yes," said Thornkit, "Now attack me! And after you defeat me, you must defeat my deputy, Swiftleg!" "What?" Swiftkit, looked up. "I'm deputy?"

"No, he's not!" shouted Cinderkit. "I asked first, so I'm deputy!"

"The deputy is chosen by the Clan leader. It is not a matter of who asks first!" said Brackenkit authoritatively. "Yeah," Swiftkit raised his voice.

"I am Clan leader and I decree that Cinderheart and Swiftleg must battle and the winner will be deputy," decreed Thornkit importantly.

"No fair, he's bigger!" complained Cinderkit. "Do not back down from a challenge!" ordered Thornkit. "But if you are still getting over that injury you received in the battle with ShadowClan last week, you may climb the tallest tree in camp. First one to the top is deputy!"

"We better put a stop to that," muttered Goldenflower to Willowpelt. But Frostfur had already gotten to the kits. "None of you is going to be climbing the tallest tree in camp, especially not in a race," she scolded them. "And I think it's time you went to bed." "Aww Mama," Cinderkit protested. Brightkit, Swiftkit, Thornkit and Brackenkit all began complaining as well. Goldenflower and Willowpelt went to help usher the kits back into the nursery.

Spottedleaf walked down the fern tunnel back to the medicine den alone. Sandpaw seized her chance. She had wanted to get a medicine cat's perspective on her weird dream for days but wanted to talk to Spottedleaf alone. At the moment, Mousefur was in the medicine den recovering from serious wounds obtained in the most recent battle with RiverClan. No cats had died–this time. Sandpaw had to talk to Spottedleaf before she reached her den.

"Spottedleaf," Sandpaw overtook her in the clearing outside her den. "I need to talk to you! It could be important."

Spottedleaf looked up with sudden urgency. "Do you have a bellyache or something?"

"No, nothing like that," Sandpaw explained quickly. "I had an odd dream four days ago."

She knew, of course, that StarClan would not send an important dream to an ordinary warrior apprentice. But maybe, just maybe...StarClan would send a dream to an ordinary warrior apprentice. But because she wasn't a medicine cat or a wise old cat, she didn't know how to interpret it.

Spottedleaf listened carefully to the description. "Are you sure you love Dustpaw?" she mused. "Well, that sounds awfully personal. I wouldn't know how to interpret it. It must be for you to figure out."

"What do you do when you get a dream you can't figure out?" asked Sandpaw. "Medicine cats don't know everything. If you did, we wouldn't have all of these problems with RiverClan right now."

"No," agreed Spottedleaf. "Often, I have to go to the Moonstone to commune closely with StarClan. It is not often that they send me clear signs on an ordinary occasion. Often a medicine cat is left struggling to figure things out for herself in dark times. I sometimes feel as if I have the weight of the whole forest on my shoulders. Your dream deals only with your own personal life. Yet, you must stillstruggle through it and figure it out yourself. It will be difficult, I know."

Sandpaw's paw scraped the ground impatiently. To the young she-cat her own problems seemed like a big deal, whatever the importance of clan-versus-clan politics. She had known cats who had died recently and waited impatiently for the day she would take part in an important battle but worrying about them still seemed far away to her. Besides, had Spottedleaf had this dream, she would have known it was important. She opened her mouth to protest but Spottedleaf had already returned to her den. Sandpaw started to follow her but Mousefur started hissing at Spottedleaf. Sandpaw hurried away. It wasn't that she was afraid of Mousefur; just that she didn't want to get involved. That was often the best policy unless you were the one Mousefur was mad at. Then the best policy was to appease her.


	3. Chapter 3: Always Ask Questions

**Don't own Warriors...blah, blah, blah**

**By the way, Sandpaw and Dustpaw are older than Ravenpaw, Graypaw and Firepaw. They just got made warriors later for some reason. I personally always thought it was unfair. I think Bluestar plays favourites...though she is otherwise awesome.**

**I did make a mistake though. Longtail became a warrior two moons before Firepaw joined the Clan but Ravenpaw had been an apprentice for two moons. So my timing is off. Oh well.**

Chapter 3: Always ask Questions

Whitestorm and Darkstripe led Sandpaw, Longpaw, Ravenpaw and Dustpaw out into the woods for their assessment. While the two warriors whispered the latest Clan news to each other up ahead, a bird call could be heard in the trees.

"Why do they sing?" asked Ravenpaw. "We hear them. We know where they are likely to be. You'd think prey would be discrete so it wouldn't get caught."

"They must have their reasons," said Sandpaw, bored.

"And who cares what they are!" Dustpaw lashed his tail in annoyance. "Their only purpose for us is food."

"It is good to question why something is the way it," advised Whitestorm, turning towards the apprentices. "If you don't, you never learn anything new. And sometimes understanding the forest means you are better suited to survive regardless of whether the subject seemed important at the time. I think we should address Ravenpaw's question."

Ravenpaw looked amazed to get so much attention. He lowered his head, abashed.

"Well," said Longpaw, glancing from Whitestorm to his own mentor, who was rolling his eyes towards the sky. "When we do battle training we make noise. And the camp is pretty noisy sometimes with all of those kits. Maybe the birds only sing when they are in their own camp."

"Mouse-brain," teased Sandpaw. "They sing all the time, in any tree. Hey, maybe they feel protected since they are all up in trees."

"And can see anything around them," said Longpaw. "Hey, that's like WindClan on their big snobby hill. Or RiverClan with the river between their camp and everything else. They're so proud about it but it's not even their fault."

"Yeah," agreed Dustpaw.

"We really need to get going," Darkstripe interrupted. "I don't want to still be giving these apprentices their assessment at sunset. Today might be the day Longpaw becomes a warrior. I don't want my apprentice to miss his own warrior ceremony because this mouse-brain..." He pointed at Ravenpaw. "Needs to know why birds sing."

Ravenpaw put his tail between his legs and slumped his head. "I suppose you're right," Whitestorm agreed but he gave Ravenpaw an apologetic smile. "Longpaw you will take the route down the creek near the training hollow. Follow it to the river. Dustpaw, you can go to Sunningrocks. Sandpaw, you can hunt in the territory near Fourtrees. Even though Dustpaw and Sandpaw are still too young to be warriors, they should still try to bring back as much as they can for the sake of the Clan. Ravenpaw, this is your first assessment so we'll give you something relatively easy. You get Tallpines. Okay, go to it."

The three apprentices scattered but Sandpaw was thinking. Maybe she should go to the Moonstone and see about the dream for herself if the medicine cat couldn't help her.

**Sorry this one was a little dull...it's mostly filler.**


	4. Chapter 4: To the Moonstone

Chapter 4: To the Moonstone

Sandpaw raised her nose and sniffed the air. Yep, the coast was clear. She then crouched down on the pile of dung and rolled. The stench hurt her eyes and disgusted her nose but it was better than being caught crossing WindClan territory. With Spottedleaf's words in her ears, she started across the moor.

She scrabbled across the territory, ducking for whatever cover there was at small noises. She hated the open moor. What did these cats do when it rained? And how it must stink to hunt without cover! And the stench of WindClan was everywhere! She wouldn't be a WindClan cat for all the mice in the world. Once she scented a patrol, recognizing the scent of some cats she had met at her first Gathering. She hid downwind in a patch of heather and watched as four cats, three warriors and an apprentice, passed. Mudclaw and Tornear were two of the warriors and Sandpaw remembered the apprentice as Runningpaw, a friendly tabby she-cat who had laughed and joked with Sandpaw and then tried to one-up Dustpaw when he bragged about how high he could climb trees. Sandpaw almost wanted to rush out and greet her but remembered that she was in enemy territory. She couldn't be friends with these cats. Any one of them would shred her if they scented her.

Sandpaw held her breath as the patrol passed the patch of heather. Runningpaw looked as if she might be suspicious about something but when she scented a rabbit, she bounded off after it. The two warriors followed. Sandpaw let out her breath and, looking to her shoulders, stumbled out of the heather patch.

But as she dashed across another bare patch, she heard another patrol approaching from the direction in which she was heading. If she dashed back to her hiding place, she would be scented. Sandpaw cursed her carelessness. _Perhaps Whitestorm is right. Perhaps I do assume I can't lose too often_.

Then she noticed something. These were _ShadowClan_ cats she smelled, not WindClan. What were they doing on WindClan territory. And why were there so many of them. Five that Sandpaw could scent and she had yet to make a mistake when judging how many cats were nearby.


	5. Chapter 5: Brokenstar and Mudclaw

**Don't own warriors. Yada yada yada.**

**Sorry I haven't updated in a while. Busy and all that. **

**People have complained about my short chapters so this one is going to be longer.**

Chapter 5: Brokenstar and Mudclaw

There were five of them; all ShadowClan. One of them was Brokentail! The ShadowClan deputy. Sandpaw remembered him from the Gathering. She also remembered Blackfoot and Russetfur. The other two were not cats Sandpaw recognized. As she watched, she couldn't help thinking that the smallest cat looked way too young to be an apprentice. He had soft fur like a kit and clumsy paws.

Well, he's certainly too young for a raiding party, thought Sandpaw. _What's going on? Are these cats actually dumb enough to bring a kit to rival territory?_ But it was the kit that scented her first. "Flintfang!" he meowed eagerly. "I think I smell a ThunderClan cat!"

Sandpaw tensed. Common sense told her to bolt away because even if they did chase her, she could have a chance at escaping the wrath of WindClan when they found out that ThunderClan had sent a spy. True, no cat knew where she was. True, the elders thought she was battle training with her mentor, Whitestorm thought she was off hunting and Longtail and Runningwind, with whom she had been assigned to hunt that day by Redtail, thought that she had been switched to elder duty but it would look like she had been sent to spy.

Still, she couldn't help thinking that she should find out what was going on. A war between WindClan and ShadowClan stemming from a border raid might be useful for ThunderClan. They could take a side and weaken one Clan or the other.

Brokentail snapped at the kit. "Louder, Badgerpaw, there might be a few WindClan cats who didn't hear you! Flintfang, I didn't bring your new apprentice out here to alert them to our presence. We need to make our plans if our Clan is to survive!"

The cat Sandpaw didn't recognize and assumed to be Flintfang dipped his head. Sandpaw wasn't sure but she thought she smelled fear. She didn't understand why a cat would be so afraid of his own leader. "S-sorry, Brokenstar."

_Brokenstar?_ For a moment Sandpaw stared stupidly. Then she cleared her head as Blackfoot and Russetfur noticed her too. "It_ is_ a ThunderClan cat!" Russetfur hissed at what was apparently her new leader.

"Only one," Blackfoot said, sniffing the air. Brokenstar spotted Sandpaw and dashed towards her. Sandpaw swerved in her path and ran, but Brokenstar blocked her way. She ducked and dodged underneath his belly, pleased that Whitestorm had taught her that move. She had used it in a border fight or two with RiverClan. These fights seemed so frequent these days. Maybe Sandpaw had been wrong to think that ThunderClan should get into a fight between ShadowClan and WindClan when RiverClan was already giving them enough trouble. Sandpaw knew better than some how much the Clan had suffered from the last greencough epidemic. So many cats had died, including her own mother and brother.

Amazingly, Sandpaw had time to regret all this as she ran for her life between Brokenstar's legs and dodged away from where Flintfang, Blackfoot and Russetfur were running towards her. Badgerpaw came at her from the other side but she easily shoved him into a gorse thicket. Hissing, Baderpaw fought to free himself from the thicket. Angrily, his mentor, Flintfang lunged at Sandpaw, grabbing her by the scruff and slamming her to the ground. Badgerpaw crawled out of the thicket and nipped her tail. Sandpaw struggled against Flintfang as Brokenstar, Blackfoot and Russetfur surrounded her and her assailants.

"Leave my apprentice, alone," hissed Flintfang.

"Do not protect your apprentice," growled Blackfoot. "He must fight like all the others. So," he addressed Sandpaw. "Stealing prey I suppose?"

Fear shot through Sandpaw. But at the same time, she was angry. "What are_ you_ doing here, then?" she asked. She winced at how her voice sounded like a squeak. She hated to be thought weak even when obviously captured and unable to escape.

Mercifully, she felt Flintfang's grip ease. Badgerpaw let go of her tail. Sandpaw was grateful because his kitten teeth had been surprisingly _sharp_. She wondered whether all kits were this dangerous. She could easily imagine Cinderkit attacking a cat from another Clan if given the chance. This thought would have made her smile if circumstances had been different. Russetfur growled. "You are an apprentice. Do not question warriors!"

"You are a filthy ThunderClan apprentice!" snapped Brokenstar. "We should just kill you and be on our way?"

"Is it necessary to kill her?" asked Badgerpaw. Sandpaw twisted her neck to see a look of horror on his face. "Couldn't we just scratch her up and send her back to her own territory?"

"She will tell her own Clan we are here," hissed Blackfoot. "We must be allowed to survey the territory for our own without a nasty cat from another Clan telling on us."

Brokenstar turned and hit Blackfoot on the muzzle with his claws out. Sandpaw gasped as the paw drew blood. "You just told her! Now we have to kill her!"

Sandpaw thought fast. "Don't tell my Clanmates I've been hunting for WindClan and I won't tell on you!" It was the best thing she could think of. She needed her life. She wasn't in any hurry to join StarClan at the moment.

"We don't even know you," hissed Flintfang. "Wait, I know her," said Russetfur. "That's Sandpaw. She's Redtail's kit."

"Excellent," Brokenstar's claws came out. "That weak deputy won't risk his kit's life. He'd be too upset to have his precious little daughter captured by ShadowClan. We should take her prisoner and use her to make demands."

Sandpaw felt a fresh flash of fury. Redtail wasn't weak! And he shouldn't call her precious or little! She was a fighter as good as any other apprentice. But she held her tongue because she knew her life depended on it. Even so, her claws slid out, digging into Flintfang's legs. Flintfang gripped her scruff and held her still. Sandpaw felt fear claw her belly. He could easily deal her a killing bite!

"This has worked out exceedingly well," Russetfur agreed.

"What kind of demands?" asked Blackfoot. Blood was still streaming from the claw marks in his nose. "Territory? Prey? Their whole Clan?"

"No, no," Brokenstar shook his head. "If we ask for their whole Clan, they will fight back no matter what. But they may give us territory to get this apprentice returned."

Sandpaw felt guilt mix with her rage. She had gotten her Clan in trouble! These mangy crow-food eaters were going to use her to steal territory. And it would be all her fault!

Sandpaw thought fast. "Remember how I said I was hunting for WindClan? Well, the reason I'm doing that is because my own Clan isn't really happy with me. In fact, it's Redtail who said the Clan might be better off without me." It was a bad lie. But Sandpaw was so brutally honest sometimes that she was bad at lying.

Russetfur glanced at Brokenstar. "Do you think she's bluffing? Because it sounds unrealistic."

Brokenstar glared. "Even if she isn't, it's worth a shot. If they don't want her back, we'll kill her."

Sandpaw knew then and there that if she got out of this she would definitely have to report Brokenstar to Bluestar. Maybe ShadowClan could be brought to justice at a Gathering for trying to kill an apprentice. Warriors weren't supposed to kill without reason.

Just then Brokenstar raised his head. "WindClan patrol!" He hissed. Runningpaw, Tornear and Mudclaw were approaching from over a hill. The moor was wide and cats could be seen from pretty far away. ShadowClan were especially proud of being quiet and good at hiding but they were best in their own territory, or at least in ThunderClan territory where there was a lot of cover to camouflage themselves within.

Brokenstar, Russetfur and Blackfoot hurried off. Because they didn't try to help him, Flintfang was forced to pick up Sandpaw by her scruff and try to drag her along. Badgerpaw walked behind them like a guard. Sandpaw saw her chance. She would be killed if she didn't get away and if she got away...well, it was worth a shot, right? She flicked a paw upward, swiping at Flintfang's eye. Flintfang raked a paw into her side, the claws stinging like crazy. But Sandpaw didn't give up. She kicked both hind paws into Flintfang's neck, causing his head to contort upwards and giving her time to drop out of his scruff, land on her feet and dash between his legs. She avoided Badgerpaw when he sprang after her. He could only leap on her for a second before she pushed him away again but a second was all he would need and she would be in the grasp of his mentor again.

Once Sandpaw had escaped her captor, she ran towards the WindClan patrol. She hated to get herself caught by them but it was better than risking death in the jaws of the ShadowClan patrol. Behind her Sandpaw heard the ShadowClan cats cursing but they didn't try to follow her. Clearly their plan to take over WindClan territory wasn't in motion yet and it didn't involve a confrontation on their territory. _Cowards!_ Thought Sandpaw. But she had other concerns as of yet. The WindClan patrol that was approaching, for one.

"What are you doing here," gasped Runningpaw. Tornear gave a low growl. But Mudclaw had noticed the patrol. "Where are the rest of those rival cats going?"

"Those were ShadowClan!" Sandpaw meowed desperately. "They attacked me! They were going to kill me but I heard you approaching and got away!" Sandpaw knew she'd never break the warrior code again. This was just too complicated. And she could cause so much trouble. What if WindClan thought that ThunderClan and ShadowClan had formed an alliance?

Tornear frowned. "What are you doing on our territory then?"

"I'm going to the Moonstone," Sandpaw said quickly. It wasn't really a lie but she racked her brain for reasons she would be going to the Moonstone without the leader and at least one warrior.

"Runningpaw," hissed Mudclaw. "Go back to our camp for reinforcements to drive those ShadowClan cats off of our territory. I think we can deal with this one apprentice." Runningpaw looked disappointed but sprinted off towards camp. Sandpaw could tell where she got her name from. She was fast even for a WindClan cat. She was faster even than Sandpaw, who prided herself for being the second fastest cat in ThunderClan, second only to Runningwind, even though she was just an apprentice.

"So," hissed Mudclaw. "You are going to the Moonstone by yourself, without even a warrior. Well, a kit could have come up with a better lie! You're here to spy and that's all there is to it! Let's chase her away with some wounds she won't forget." He raised a paw to strike. Sandpaw raised a paw automatically in defiance. She would have been attacked right away if Tornear hadn't scented a ShadowClan scent mark in a clump of gorse. He roared.

Mudclaw turned his head and Sandpaw leaped at his shoulder but Mudclaw was too quick for her and batted her away, tearing a large gash in her foreleg as he went. Sandpaw gasped with pain but dove at his legs. Mudclaw batted her away. He grabbed her scruff in his teeth and shook her hard. "Go home!" He hissed at her. "And we'll be telling your Clan about this too! Imagine your whole Clan brought to shame at the next Gathering!" He then flung her in the air and she landed on the ground with the wind knocked out of her. She felt both pain and embarrassment. She'd never been batted aside that easily. Then again, this wasn't a training session. It was as if she were little kitten Badgerpaw.


	6. Chapter 6: False Alliances

**I still don't own warriors. I mean Warriors. I don't own any warriors either. They're probably too expensive for me to afford.**

**Chapter 6: False Alliances**

Sandpaw had gone to dig up the two mice and the pigeon that she had buried earlier that day, hoping that if questioned she could just say she had been out hunting alone again. She had a preferred place underneath an oak tree in a middle of the territory near the stream. Lionheart was there with Graypaw, drilling him on stalking techniques.

"Yes, mice feel your pawsteps and you need to tread lightly but you don't need to slide along the ground. It's okay to lift your feet."

"Not sliding, creeping. What was that about bird stalking again?"

"Your tail should be up in the air and not in the leaves. It should be kept as still as possible no matter what it is you are stalking."

Sandpaw knew she would have to show other cats her wounds sooner or later. "I buried something here. Excuse me," she said, circling around the other two cats and finding her hidden stash.

"Nothing else since, eh? Tough luck," said Graypaw.

Sandpaw glared at the younger apprentice. Her temper had been shortened by the hard day and the battle. "Don't act so superior," she hissed. "I don't see you catching two mice and a bird in a day. You've barely just caught your first puny little vole and Dustpaw had to do most of the work for you. He had to corner it and tell you to pounce and everything."

"Dustpaw exaggerated." Graypaw looked both hurt and angry. "I didn't have to be told to pounce. And he only scared it. It was just his good luck that I happened to be there."

"Don't bicker like kits about who caught what," Lionheart narrowed his eyes at Graypaw and then at Sandpaw. "Sandpaw, you've got some scratches there. If you've been attacked please tell me. We need to know about any enemies in this hard year."

Sandpaw turned her head and licked her wounds. "Just scratches I got chasing a thrush through a clump of bracken and thorns," she meowed.

"Did it get away?" asked Graypaw. Pointedly.

Lionheart stepped closer to Sandpaw and inspected her wounds with concern. "That gash looks deep. I'm taking you to Spottedleaf right now. Graypaw, you can replace One-Eye's soiled bedding. She complained that it felt damp this morning. And Halftail and Dappletail were both scratching this morning. Check them for ticks." He picked up Sandpaw's pigeon in his mouth and beckoned for the apprentices to follow him. Graypaw glared at Sandpaw, no doubt thinking she should be punished too. Sandpaw wanted to point out that she knew the way back to camp but she thought it best not to protest at the moment. She picked up her mice in her mouth and followed the two tomcats back to camp.

Back at camp, the cats were greeted by milling pawsteps and consternated voices. Mousefur and Darkstripe were conversing in worried tones by the entrance to the tunnel. The recently named Longtail sat a foot away, looking as if he wanted to take part in the conversation but not having the courage. Patchpelt was bustling around, trying to calm every cat. Outside the elder's den, Dappletail was explaining what was going on to One-Eye as loudly as she could but One-Eye was still screeching, "What?" every so often. Brindleface had left the nursery and was asking questions of other cats with a worried look on her face. Frostfur was trying to convince two of her kits to stay in the nursery and resorting to bribery from the look of it. The two kits were trying to resist the allure of a freshly-caught vole, something they hadn't tasted yet. Ravenpaw was cowering beside the apprentice's den, an expression of total fear on his face. But Dustpaw ran excitedly over to Sandpaw and Graypaw as soon as they entered the camp.

"There are two RiverClan cats in our camp!" He explained breathlessly, a look of pure exhilaration on his face. "Blackclaw. And Oakheart. The deputy!"

"Oakheart's here? It must be _very important_," Graypaw meowed in awe. "Where are they, Dustpaw?"

"In Bluestar's den with her and Redtail," answered Dustpaw. "See Tigerclaw there. He insisted on keeping guard. I'd like to see them attack our leader with him there." Tigerclaw was the toughest and strictest of all the mentors. Dustpaw was the apprentice who admired him the most.

Craning her head, Sandpaw saw the dark tabby perched on a rock in front of the hangings that hid Bluestar's den from the rest of the camp. He sat sideways, one eye and ear on the den, one glaring and pointing warningly at the rest of the camp. His tail was twitching and he flexed his long claws every so often, scraping them audibly against the stone. Sandpaw smiled. If she were a RiverClan cat, she would be stupid to try to attack Bluestar.

"Indeed," Lionheart narrowed his eyes at Dustpaw. "Did they happen to say what was so urgent that they needed to come right into our camp and talk to our leader in her den?"

"Yes," Dustpaw meowed. "Well actually no, not really," he admitted. "Those sneaks refused to talk to anyone but Bluestar. I mean they said they think WindClan and ShadowClan are forming an alliance. Oakheart said that and he said it in the most evasive way possible. RiverClan must be crazy to let such a fox-heart be their deputy. And then Blackclaw got aggressive and said that he'd only talk to the leader and Tigerclaw said that anything he had to say to Bluestar that was so urgent they needed to come sniffing out our camp like a couple of foxes could wait until she got back from the sunhigh patrol. And Blackclaw said that they had to get back to RiverClan in time to field a mission for Crookedstar which was none of our business by the way. And then Oakheart said he'd wait and then Bluestar got back and she said something about negotiations and took them into her den."

"Um hmm," Lionheart muttered. "So now they know where our camp is. Well that's one secret gone."

"Willowpelt and Runningwind were stupid enough to lead them here," Darkstripe said walking over from the fresh-kill pile, with Mousefur following.

"Bluestar said she'd talk about that later," Longtail added. "I assume she means to punish them." Sandpaw rolled her eyes. He had been talking in such a lofty tone ever since he had been made a warrior but she knew he'd been afraid to step into a conversation with his former mentor out of fear of being rebuked by the senior warriors for eavesdropping.

"RiverClan doesn't already know where our camp is," Graypaw meowed questioningly. "But you said we know where theirs is, Lionheart. And WindClan's too."

"Yes," Lionheart nodded. "We know the location of every camp but ShadowClan's. Some RiverClan cats, the oldest ones, who may have raided us in the distant past, know where our camp is but they haven't used that knowledge in such a long time. It was moons before Bluestar became leader. If cats are confused as to the location we'd like to keep them that way. It makes it harder to attack directly." Sandpaw felt a chill in her fur. It was so important not to let any Clan get an advantage over her own. And she'd just given ShadowClan and WindClan fuel to use against her. Well, she'd just have to be more careful next time. Next time though, she was sure would be a long way off. Perhaps when the senior warriors decided she was ready for them to take her to the Moonstone.

"Sandpaw, Graypaw, I told you what you needed to do when you got back to camp," Lionheart meowed firmly. Sandpaw wanted to wait for Bluestar and the RiverClan cats to come out of her den and from the way Graypaw kept sneaking glances she knew he did too but they both knew better than to argue. Sandpaw walked to the medicine den as slowly as possible, ears pricked in the direction of the leader's den. She did hear Brindleface say to Willowpelt, "Were you out of your mind? Now the kits are at risk. And the elders." Speckletail rebuked Willowpelt more harshly, "Really, you're not a young apprentice. You're old enough to know better."

_That Speckletail_, thought Sandpaw. She hadn't ever really liked her very much. She had strong opinions about kit-rearing, some of which hadn't agreed with Sandpaw when she was in the nursery. And the other queens looked up to her far too much.

Dustpaw fell into step beside Sandpaw. "I'll come with you to the medicine den," he whispered. "What happened? Did you meet a fox? No, those don't look like fox wounds. Well whatever it was, I guess the other animal must look worse."

"Do I look that bad?" Sandpaw looked at the scratches running down her side.

"No," said Dustpaw. "Sandpaw, you, you always look good. I meant the other animal must be thoroughly beaten. You're one of the best in training. Better than Longtail. Definitely better than Graypaw and Ravenpaw."

Sandpaw was surprised to receive a compliment from Dustpaw. Two compliments if you counted the comment on her looks. He was usually so sparing with positive comments about any cat. She pushed her embarrassment to the back of her mind. "But not better than you?" she teased, flipping him onto his back and mock-grabbing his scruff.

"Of course not!" Dustpaw gripped around her and rolled her over so she was on her back and pinned her face with a paw. "See!"

"She's less likely to beat you in a fight when she's wounded Dustpaw," said Spottedleaf, who had been mixing a poultice inside her den and was now carrying it out, wrapped in a leaf. "I can smell blood but no infection. What happened?"

"C'mon Sandpaw," Dustpaw urged. "Tell her what it was."

Sandpaw played along. "It was three foxes. It was quite a fight but I chased them away in the end. But I've already told Lionheart their whereabouts so there's no need to mention this to any cat."

"Humph," muttered Dustpaw. "One fox would have been believable but..."

"Hey, two of them were cubs," Sandpaw improvised. "But that doesn't mean they were harmless. A whole family of foxes..."

"All right, Sandpaw," Spottedleaf interrupted. "Enough playing around. You should come right to me when you've got injuries. Now let's take a look."

Miffed, Sanpaw couldn't help thinking that Spottedleaf was treating her like a kit but she knew the medicine cat was right about needing to come right to the medicine den. She sat down in front of the tortoiseshell. Spottedleaf parted Sandpaw's fur and examined her wounds. "Mostly just scratches but you've also got a pretty big rip here. And, oh dear, this foreleg could use a few cobwebs. Dustpaw, I've got a supply of cobwebs hanging from the roof of the den. Could you get some please?" Dustpaw nodded and rushed into the den. "You've cleaned the cuts. That was sensible of you but it doesn't look like fox scratches. And that on the end of your tail doesn't look like a fox bite...It looks like a kit bite come to think of it. Milk teeth. They're small but sharp."

"It wasn't really a fox," Sandpaw said quickly. "And that nip on my tail did come from one of the kits. I don't know what was wrong with him. Kits have bees in their brains sometimes."

Spottedleaf sighed. "Which kit? Does its mother know it did this?"

Sandpaw was saved from having to reply by Dustpaw's arrival out of the medicine den carrying a cobweb on his paw. He was followed, to Sandpaw's great surprise, by Whitestorm who was limping on a bleeding front leg and a back leg that looked bent the wrong way. His white coat was flecked with visible bloodstains.

"You didn't tell me you had your apprentice with you in the scuffle, Whitestorm," Spottedleaf narrowed her eyes critically at the senior warrior. "I didn't," Whitestorm looked confused. "Sandpaw, were you in a fight?"

"With foxes she says", Dustpaw told him.

"Foxes," Whitestorm raised his eyebrows.

"I was chasing a bird and I got caught in a prickly bush," Sandpaw repeated her earlier lie.** "**It just sounds better to be in a fight with a family of foxes. That's all."

Dustpaw chortled. Sandpaw would have snapped at him but he seemed amused rather than mocking. She smiled at him and he returned a brief smile before scowling at Whitestorm. "What happened? You were there with Willowpelt and Runningwind when you met Oakheart."

"Yes, yes, I was youngster." Whitestorm lifted his bleeding foreleg, which, Sandpaw noted, was already wrapped in cobwebs the way that Spottedleaf was doing with her own foreleg now.

"Will you tell us what happened?" begged Dustpaw.


	7. Chapter 7: Just Too Convenient

**I don't own Sandpaw or any of these other cats. But I own these plot points here.**

**Chapter 7: Just Too Convenient**

As Tigerclaw, Darkstripe, Mousefur and Longtail ushered the visitors out of ThunderClan territory, Bluestar stood on the HIghrock and called the familiar summons, "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the Highrock for a Clan meeting!" All cats did. The elders came out of their den, Rosetail yawning widely. She'd been sleeping despite all the excitement in the camp. Frostfur, having finally managed to get her kits to take a nap in the nursery, took her place beside Brindleface and Speckletail followed by Goldenflower. Ravenpaw nervously wandered out of the apprentice's den and, after making sure that no RiverClan cats were still in the camp, padded over to where Graypaw was sitting at Lionheart's side. Graypaw flicked his friend's shoulder with his tail encouragingly. Whitestorm sat in front of Spottedleaf's den with Sandpaw. Whitestorm had been told he needed a few days to recover from his injuries. Sandpaw had been assigned to gather moss for the elders for the rest of the day and would be allowed to go out of the camp again tomorrow but wanted to keep her mentor company now.

Redtail, sitting at the foot of the Highrock meowed, "Oakheart and Blackclaw have told us that WindClan and ShadowClan have formed an alliance. In fact, WindClan and ShadowClan scent marks have been made together on the edge of their territory."

"But that's unprecedented! The Clans have never done such a thing!" yowled Halftail.

"And it's so unlike ShadowClan, forming a strong alliance with any cats," Goldenflower meowed.

"Marking scent marks together with another Clan is unnatural," scoffed Speckletail.

Bluestar waved her tail for silence. "I realize that. Oakheart told us that he had word directly from Deadfoot, the deputy of WindClan and confirmed by Flintfang of ShadowClan. He also said that RiverClan warriors have found ShadowClan scent marks inside WindClan territory, proving what they have been told."

Yowls of outrage rose through the camp but Sandpaw was not so convinced that WindClan were equal partners in this alliance-if, in fact, there was such an alliance. It had sounded as if the group of ShadowClan cats had been sneaking into WindClan territory. Mudclaw had acted as if the ShadowClan scent marks were an affront, not a mutually agreed upon settlement. "What if ShadowClan is actually marking WindClan's territory without their permission?" she called out. "What if it's not an alliance?"

"Impossible!" yowled Willowpelt. "Deadfoot himself told RiverClan that there was an alliance between the two Clans."

"Sandpaw, would even ShadowClan risk their cats' lives that much? Just to leave a few scent marks?" asked Lionheart. "That is not very clear thinking. And why do you assume that WindClan are the ones dominated. I have tried to teach you apprentices that WindClan are not the weak cats that everyone seems to have the idea that they are. This prejudice is dangerous. You must never underestimate a rival."

"Once they were threatening to take over the forest," Halftail meowed in a sombre tone. "We had to take the invasion right to their camp."

"Even if WindClan was weak and easy to subdue," Smallear growled. "Would ShadowClan risk all the time it would take to set scent marks, patrol territory that is not their own and suffer the battles that would occur? If they tried, they would not be able to feed themselves. Even a Clan as bloodthirsty as ShadowClan would have to quietly admit defeat and give up the attempt. This must be a mutual alliance."

"She needs rest," Frostfur meowed. "She's been injured today."

"She's just fine," purred Spottedleaf. "She only has a few cuts. She's fetching bedding for the elders today." Normally Sandpaw would have protested at the thought of fetching bedding for the elders when she'd been scheduled for battle-training in the later afternoon but her mentor was injured worse than she and besides Graypaw was already being punished with the more unpleasant tasks that came with elder care.

"When did Oakheart speak to the WindClan deputy?" asked Speckletail, her ears flattened and her tail twitching grumpily from side to side. "And what exactly did the WindClan deputy tell him?"

"He said the RiverClan dawn patrols have smelled mixed scent marks on both borders for the past few days," answered Bluestar evenly. "Only today did his sunhigh patrol meet Deadfoot's sunhigh patrol. Deadfoot explained that they've been marking scent on each other's territory and that ShadowClan has been moving further inland. Oakheart's patrol met up with Flintfang right at Fourtrees. He and Boulder and Blackfoot confirmed Oakheart's suspicions of a long-term alliance against ThunderClan and RiverClan."

"So, did WindClan confirm this?" asked Sandpaw, unable to let it go. Dustpaw stared at her as if he had never seen her before. He was not the only one either.

"No, but we smelled WindClan scent marks just inside ShadowClan territory," meowed Runningwind.

"You actually went across the Thunderpath to do this?" asked Dappletail. Sandpaw wondered if the tortoiseshell elder was taking her side in the discussion but then Dappletail added, "That was very risky. We shouldn't risk offending other Clans this Greenleaf when we are at a disadvantage. And you shouldn't risk getting attacked by one of those awful Twoleg monsters."

"We only smelled it from across the Thunderpath," Willowpelt put in, flicking her tail nervously across Runningwind's muzzle to keep him from giving an angry retort. "But it was there all right."

"So," Smallear sucked in his breath. "What exactly was the point of RiverClan telling us all this?"

"It certainly is not a good thing for the forest to have Clans sharing territory like this," said Lionheart. "Nor is it a good thing for us. Two Clans closely allied will throw the forest out of balance and we are not in a fit state to defend ourselves. Perhaps they want to preserve their strength after all the losses each Clan endured last leaf-bare with the greencough epidemic. Still, it does not mean we need to ally with the remaining Clan."

There was a moment of silence after that speech. Sandpaw knew that the cats were remembering Robinwing and Fuzzypelt, her brother and Graypaw's sister, Dustpaw and Ravenpaw's other littermates whom they both still missed, Leopardfoot and Poppydawn the elder who could have been saved with a bit more food. Even Featherwhisker, Spottedleaf's mentor. The Clan would have been stronger with all of them there, even those that were elders thought Sandpaw. So many of them had been somebody's parents.

"That was exactly what Oakheart was asking us to do," meowed Redtail, tentatively. "Not on the level of the ShadowClan/WindClan alliance, not with shared territory. But Crookedstar and Oakheart want to make an agreement, a pact if you will, about what to do if they should gang up on one of us."

"That arrogant fool suggested we settle this by dividing the Sunningrocks since we cannot make such a pact in good faith when there is such an animosity between us," sighed Bluestar. "I seem to recall he had a very generous idea of what the riverside half of the Sunningrocks amounted to."

"We have decided to consult with the rest of the Clan before a decision was made," Redtail glanced questioningly at Bluestar. It was not often that she openly insulted any cat, even if that cat was from another Clan. "Do you think we should make such a pact in order to make peace with RiverClan and have a ready alliance should things go wrong?"

"The Sunningrocks are not RiverClan's to give away!" shouted Lionheart. "They are still ours and we will not have some other cat acting as if he owns them."

"But do we have a choice?" asked Brindleface. "He's offering us peace in exchange. More than that. He's offering us a pact of protection."

"But he's offering it at a cost. He's making demands," insisted Goldenflower. Swiftkit had crawled out of the nursery. He looked at his mother, who smiled and wrapped her tail around him. "I would rather we not admit defeat yet."

"Raggedstar has always been a fairly reasonable leader," pointed out Brindleface. "And Tallstar is no extremist. Why should there be more of a threat from either of them than we face now?"

"Don't be naive, Brindleface," growled Frostfur. "They would not ally so strongly if they were not up against a common enemy."

"Is that enemy not cold and hunger?" asked Whitestorm. "Remember that RiverClan is better fed than the other Clans now, fat on fish from the river. The other Clans are still recovering from last leaf-bare, including ourselves. We have so few warriors, fewer than we can admit to another Clan."

"Then it will seem to be a show of weakness if we agree to this alliance, especially if we give up land," insisted Frostfur.

"I agree that it would send a bad message," Whitestorm sat on his haunches and looked into the eyes of each cat. "RiverClan might make more demands if we agree initially. I am not sure if we should trust them. I am certainly not in favour of this alliance."

"But a safety pact would be essential would it not?" Brindleface meowed. "We might not even have to use it. If we refuse, then RiverClan is under no obligation to help us if we are threatened by two Clans. If we accept, we give up a small piece of land that has resulted in far too much death in battle."

Shocked silence followed. All the cats were thinking about the possibility of more deaths and about the insult they might be sending to their Clanmates in StarClan if they let those deaths be in vain. Finally, Mousefur's voice spoke up from the edge of the clearing. "I think that we should keep fighting. I think that we should refuse this pact. We will deal with a threat if we have to but for now there is no apparent threat." The wiry brown she-cat was returning to camp with the three toms following. "To give up at the first sign of a threat is an insult to those who have died in battle," growled Darkstripe and Longtail nodded in agreement.

Tigerclaw, however, walked over to stand underneath Highrock next to Redtail before speaking. "I do not believe that ThunderClan needs this pact. We have fought off great masses of cats before, we can do it again, if need be! Should RiverClan be willing to give up their territory, then we will accept their offer! We do not concede to the demands of those arrogant fish-eaters so easily!"

"Does any cat have something else to say?" Bluestar surveyed the assembled cats. "No? Good. Redtail will tell Oakheart tomorrow on the dawn patrol that we are politely declining his offer." Redtail nodded. "Good. The whole thing was just too convenient."

"I assume you will want extra patrols at Sunningrocks for the rest of this moon, Bluestar," Tigerclaw growled. "If not, then ThunderClan is letting RiverClan think they can take anything they want. We can't let those fish-faces get too high and mighty."

Bluestar nodded. "Yes, Tigerclaw. Redtail, I want you to do just that. Tigerclaw, you also said you had a suggestion about how Willowpelt and Runningwind should be punished for giving away the location of the camp."

Tigerclaw smiled. "Yes, Bluestar. It should be exclusively their duty to care for the elders for a moon."

"Hooray, I'm off duty today," Graypaw cheered.

"Excellent punishment, Tigerclaw," meowed Bluestar, sparing a sharp look for Graypaw. "But I think that an entire moon is too long. These cats need only do the punishment for seven sunrises. There are no specific rules against giving away the location of the camp. This was merely a breach of common sense."

"Now is not a time for our Clan to get careless Bluestar," hissed Darkstripe. "These cats should serve as an example! Especially to the young cats." He looked sharply at each apprentice. "Why is he looking at us? We didn't do anything!" Dustpaw whispered angrily to Sandpaw. Sandpaw flicked her tail in agreement. It was fully grown warriors being punished here and none of the apprentices had been involved.

"That is my final decision, Darkstripe," Bluestar meowed firmly. "Redtail, organize the patrols. Dustpaw, Ravenpaw and Graypaw, all of you head to the clearing for a training session. Your mentors will be there shortly. Sandpaw, you can gather moss for Runningwind and Willowpelt as planned just for today."


	8. Chapter 8: Fish

**I don't own Warriors, have never owned it and will never own it. Think I'll let Vicky, Kate, Cherith and the new one, whose name I can't remember but whose talent is probably no less, keep the credit for that.**

**Chapter 7: Fish?**

At dawn, the four apprentices were awoken by Tigerclaw's traditional wake-up call, "Get up now! Warriors don't sleep the day away." Graypaw, Sandpaw, Ravenpaw and Dustpaw all opened their eyes, stretched and looked towards the dark tabby who was always pushing them to be better hunters, to work harder, to defeat each other in mock battles and no harder on anyone than his own timid apprentice. "Dawn patrol," asked Ravenpaw in a whisper.

"Yes, dawn patrol," growled Tigerclaw. "With another task added to our usual itinerary. Redtail and I must speak to Oakheart at the border. Our _agreed upon border._"

"I'll be there," muttered Ravenpaw, getting to his feet and ambling out of the den. "Do you need more cats for the dawn patrol?" Graypaw asked, hopefully.

"Redtail thinks that our apprentices should come for the experience." Tigerclaw's tone said that he did not think much of this idea. "And Graypaw, you and Lionheart are going to do a dawn patrol on the other side of the territory with Longtail and Mousefur. ShadowClan side. Learn to hide your disappointment. You need not look so obvious. Any cat could read your face. And Sandpaw, Whitestorm asked to see you in Spottedleaf's den. I hope he has instructions ready for you despite his injury." Tigerclaw's voice was impatient. The whole Clan knew he did not like to wait for injuries to heal whether they were his own or others.

Sandpaw didn't want to wait for her mentor's injury to heal either but she was too preoccupied with getting her bearings so early in the morning to agree with him. Tigerclaw watched the four apprentices closely as they crawled out of the den, stretched their legs and smoothed their fur. He then led them over to where Redtail was organizing the early morning patrols. "I got them up, Redtail. Here's the lot. You all look too tired," he criticized the apprentices. "You must keep alert and be strong at all times."

"Well, then," Redtail smiled at the assembled warriors. "You all have your instructions. C'mon, Dustpaw, Ravenpaw." He led them out through the fern tunnel with Tigerclaw bringing up the rear. Graypaw joined Lionheart and the rest of the ShadowClan border dawn patrol, stifling a yawn as he went. Sandpaw rolled her eyes at his open laziness.

Left alone in the clearing, Sandpaw decided she'd better go see Whitestorm immediately. She could tell why Graypaw was tired really. It was still pretty dark out despite the pale light in the sky and the air was moist and misty. Sandpaw could not see farther than halfway across the clearing where the camp was made. She walked around the edge listening to the sound of snoring in the warriors den where the lucky ones got to sleep late, Bluestar pacing the leader's den and Cinderkit and Brightkit sparring and rolling around in front of the nursery. When Sandpaw passed, Brightkit jumped up and wandered over. "Where'd you get those cuts?" she asked.

"Fighting a dog. Actually it was a pack of Twoleg dogs," she smiled. "I beat them because I was smaller and smarter. They ended up biting each other because they couldn't find me and I kept swatting them in several places at once."

"Wow," said Brightkit with a wide grin on her face. Cinderkit yawned, "She's making it up, Brightkit. She got hurt chasing a dumb bird through a prickly bush. Graypaw told me. Apprentices can pull one over on you if you're not careful."

Sandpaw grunted, "You just have to be a little smart aleck, don't you." Cinderkit could ruffle her fur sometimes. But she wasn't really mad. She smiled. "It was worth a shot wasn't it?" she told the two she-kits before continuing on to the medicine den.

Whitestorm was in the den, resting his sore legs and helping Spottedleaf sort herbs with his muzzle. "Yarrow, marigold, not much horsetail." The tortoiseshell nodded, pawing up the few crinkled horsetail leaves, moist in the wet air but obviously picked too long ago to be very potent. "If Featherwhisker was here, he would send me," Spottedleaf mused. "Ah, Sandpaw. There you are."

Sandpaw felt indignant. Had Whitestorm called her here for _herb-gathering_? "I was supposed to do battle training today and take a turn hunting for the elders," she reminded Whitestorm. "Maybe some other cat could take over. I certainly wouldn't want to fall behind when Bluestar wants more warriors so badly."

Whitestorm nodded. "I certainly cannot do battle training today. But you should hunt for the elders. Willowpelt and Runningwind are only doing the more, shall we say, unpleasant, parts of the job of looking after them." Whitestorm grinned. Sandpaw smiled back. The two warriors were expected to change their bedding, go over their pelts for ticks and make sure that any aches or illness that the medicine cat should know about got reported. These were apprentice duties for the most part. Sandpaw knew that for a warrior to be expected to do them meant one of two things. There weren't enough apprentices to do the tasks or the warrior had really messed up. Sandpaw, knowing that Bluestar was determined to speed up the apprentices' training, thought it might be a combination of the two in this case. She smiled. At this rate, she might be a warrior sooner than she'd hoped.

"But Sandpaw," Spottedleaf said. "Do you know the marshy part of the territory where the stream is running in towards the river? Do you know what watermint looks like?"

"I thought you were going to send me for horsetail. Will the herbs keep piling up?"

"No, Sandpaw, I'm not sending you for horsetail. Bring me some if you see any but it's not urgent. Watermint we need more badly. Thornkit has been getting horrible bellyaches. I've been mashing up juniper berries but I'd rather give a kit that young watermint for bellyache. The first time it happened I thought he probably swallowed a plant or a piece of fresh-kill he wasn't ready for or even some fur or bones. Yarrow didn't bring it up. But then the same thing happened again." Spottedleaf looked tired. Sandpaw knew this was why she didn't want to be a medicine cat. She was a hard worker but she didn't have that kind of patience. She nodded. "Yes, Spottedleaf. I'll bring back the watermint. And prey for the elders."

"Before you do, go to their den and tell Willowpelt that that's what you are doing," Whitestorm meowed, returning to the sorting of the herbs. "And Sandpaw, I promise I'll be back in shape to train you as soon as I can. I'll show you the badger defence like I promised I would." Sandpaw smiled, dipped her head to her mentor in goodbye and headed to the elders' den. She felt the unpleasant cling of the fog on her fur. It was heavy all right. The dawn patrol would have trouble seeing any intruders on their territory. And the damp would mask scents.

In the elders' den, Runningwind was carefully dabbing a piece of moss covered in mouse bile on One-Eye's ticks. "Ow, careful with that shoulder. It's been raw since I got it caught in that briar patch."

Runningwind backed away from her shoulder. "I'm sorry," he muttered.

"Been so long since you've done ticks," One-Eye rasped. "You haven't got the hang of it anymore."

"He never did have the hang of it," meowed Smallear. "Always was in too much of a hurry. And never remembered to get under the upper layer of fur."

Runningwind, embarrassed, backed away and then he saw Sandpaw standing in the doorway. "Sandpaw! Any change of plans?" Clearly he was hoping he could get out of this. "No. Sorry," meowed Sandpaw.

"Fox dung," Runningwind returned to One-Eye's ear. "What?" yowled One-Eye.

Sandpaw rolled her eyes. "I've been told to hunt for the elders. Back by sunhigh, okay?"

"We can't eat before sunhigh?" asked Smallear grumpily.

"I'll bring you something from the fresh-kill pile in a minute if you're hungry," offered Runningwind. "Just ask for it."

"Fresh-kill piles empty," grumbled Smallear. "Except for a bunch of stale old mice from days ago."

"You just had a mouse," meowed Halftail.

"It was stale."

Willowpelt walked into the den, carrying a ball of moss under her chin. She dropped the ball of moss and meowed, "The dawn patrol will bring something back. They always do."

"Almost always," grunted Smallear. Sandpaw groaned. Patchpelt, Rosetail and Dappletail were still asleep. How did they manage that? Maybe their hearing was getting worse as they got older. Sandpaw hoped it would be a while before they had to keep asking what every cat was saying all the time like One-Eye. One of her was enough for this Clan, for more reasons than one.

"So, then," Willowpelt meowed. "I have the bedding here and I can replace it later when everyone..." She gave an ear-splitting yawn. "...Wakes up."

"Do my bedding now," directed Smallear. "You might as well do the work you got up for, Willowpelt. When I was...young, I always finished a job I started after I started it."

Willowpelt flinched. Sandpaw knew he had been about to say, "When I was an apprentice..." She'd learned in the past that when Smallear was an apprentice, he always did what he was told and didn't talk back, he dipped his head to the elders every time he passed them and he worked hard feeding the Clan in all kinds of weather, all_ without_ complaining. Somehow Sandpaw found the last bit unconvincing.

"Sorry about what happened," she assured Willowpelt. "It could have happened to any cat, really. I had no idea that RiverClan didn't know the location of our camp either."

"It was more than that," Willowpelt sighed. "Oakheart and Blackclaw were on our territory. They were sitting on the edge of the Sunningrocks, just placidly, like they belonged there. On our side of the Sunningrocks," she added. Sandpaw felt anger rise in her and dug her claws into the dirt. RiverClan had no right! How dare they act like they owned the Sunningrocks. And when they were trying to form an alliance too!

"It was the two of us and Whitestorm who found them," Runningwind added. "We asked what they were doing on our territory. And did I mention that they reeked of fish. They must have just eaten. Ugh! It's terrible."

"We all know fish smells terrible. Go on?" prompted Halftail.

"Well, Whitestorm challenged them," sighed Willowpelt. "And Oakheart tried to explain that they needed to speak to Bluestar but Blackclaw said something very rude. I can't remember what but it made me very angry." Willowpelt's claws slid out.

"He said that we had better listen because we were weak, lazy forest cats who couldn't feed our own or else we'd win more battles without their help," Runningwind growled. "We'll see who's lazy. Those RiverClan cats are just fat on fish and don't know how to work like us. One-Eye told me they used to just swim out to the Sunningrocks and sleep on them all day just to taunt us back when they had them in their possession." One-Eye nodded to confirm the truth of this.

"You said there was more to your punishment than you having brought those RiverClan cats to our camp?" prompted Smallear.

"We're getting to that. Hang on," insisted Runningwind. "Whitestorm took offense to Blackclaw's comment. He's usually so calm but he insisted that Blackclaw be polite if he expected to speak to any cat. Blackclaw said no ThunderClan cat was going to tell him what to do and then he stepped farther into our territory to prove it. Whitestorm told him to turn around and he turned and attacked him. Whitestorm got the upper paw really quickly," he added. Sandpaw smiled with pride in her mentor.

"It wasn't exactly a good thing," meowed Willowpelt. "Oakheart didn't like the odds of the fight and attacked Whitestorm which is how he ended up injured. We tried to pull Oakheart off of Whitestorm but Oakheart must have realized the odds were against him." She hissed slightly. "I don't know why he bothered to start a fight in the first place if he's not brave enough to finish it!"

"Willowpelt, dear," Dappletail had woken up and been listening to the conversation. "Why are you and Runningwind being punished but not Whitestorm?"

"Yes. Come to think of it, I thought Whitestorm knew better than that," Patchpelt had woken up too and was listening side by side with Rosetail, who was still blinking sleepily. "I trained him, you know." There was more than a hint of pride in his voice.

"So you didn't think we knew any better?" There was venom in Willowpelt's voice. Sandpaw's ears perked up. She wasn't shocked because a cat was talking back to one of the elders but she was shocked because Willowpelt was the cat to do it.

"No, I meant, um," Patchpelt started. Rosetail quickly placed her pinkish tail across his mouth. Rosetail was the youngest elder and her pelt was very much the same as it had been when she was a warrior, although her joints certainly weren't and neither was her eyesight. "He meant that he would be shocked that any cat was involved but he thought that Whitestorm hadn't been." Rosetail finished for her denmate. "But you haven't heard the whole story, Patchpelt."

"Whitestorm went to find another patrol, ordering all of us to stay where we were until he got back. But he was taking awhile and we started to get worried. Oakheart and Blackclaw were insisting they didn't have time to wait so we took them to camp and that's all you need to know!" snapped Willowpelt. "Now I might as well change the bedding. Smallear." She stepped forcefully towards his nest. Smallear slid off the moss, looking startled. Sandpaw slipped out of the den. Runningwind tried to follow her.

"Don't think you're getting out of this!" Willowpelt hissed from inside the den. "I have to wash my paws!" Runningwind called over his shoulder. He and Sandpaw left camp, not stopping to deplete the tiny fresh-kill pile. She was barely out of the ravine before she couldn't see the ferns sheltering the camp for all the fog. The cat scents were faint too.

"Whew," said Runningwind, looking over his shoulder. "Why was Willowpelt so angry? I've only seen her like that once."

"You've seen her like that?" asked Sandpaw. "I've never seen her like that."

"Well, you were only a kit," Runningwind looked at her clearly. "She got mad at Spottedleaf when Icekit died, blaming her for not being able to save her."

"Then why is she mad now?" asked Sandpaw. "Being treated like an apprentice might be hard I guess. I'm not going to want it to happen to me. I'm sick of being an apprentice now. But it's not on the same level as losing a kit is it?" Icekit had been a white she-kit with a gray mark on the side of her face and one gray back paw. She had been Graypaw's sister and pretty weak from birth or so it had seemed to Sandpaw. Graykit had been out of Willowpelt's nest annoying the older kits as soon as he could walk. But she'd sat there huddled against the cold most of the time and sometimes had trouble feeding. She'd been one of the many kits in the forest to die in the greencough epidemic.

"Yeah. It's weird isn't it," agreed Runningwind. "I can't smell much in this fog but I think there was a bird here." He sniffed the ground.

"Don't get mouse bile on the fresh-kill," protested Sandpaw, wrinkling her nose. "I don't even want to think about that. Tell me about any scents you pick up, okay."

"Sure thing," replied Runningwind, not the least bit upset about being ordered around by an apprentice. It was one of the things Sandpaw liked about him. He didn't take things personally.

They reached the stream, catching a mouse that had ventured out of its hole to drink. Runningwind washed his paws and Sandpaw crouched by the side of the stream, sniffing the faint trail of a water vole and following it into a clump of rushes. "Mouse dung," she spat as her paws gave way and she slid into marshy water up to her knees. Runningwind snickered. Sandpaw glared at him and crawled out of the water nursing her bruised pride. "I've got to look for watermint. Had to risk getting wet, didn't I?"

"I'll leave you to that. I need to be back in camp," Runningwind reminded her as the two cats parted ways. Sandpaw headed down the side of the stream, keeping well away from the water. Not that her fur wasn't damp anyway. The fog was not letting up. She hadn't caught any prey since the mouse. She heard a fish splashing in the stream but wasn't sure how to catch it. She knew her Clan hated fish anyway. That was for those RiverClan furballs.

Sandpaw spotted the watermint. There was a great supply. She went to pluck a stalk but then she remembered. The Clan didn't expect her back until sunhigh and it was little past dawn now. The fog was so thick it would be as hard to patrol as it was to hunt. She would never get another chance like this.


	9. Chapter 9: Smashed Bones

**Still don't own warriors. Only claiming to own this very misnamed chapter and the fanfic it is part of.**

**Chapter 9: Smashed Bones**

Breaking the warrior code was hard work. However, now that she thought about it, Sandpaw realized that the warrior code actually said nothing about leaders and medicine cats being the only ones allowed to go to the Moonstone and try to speak to StarClan there. However, the warrior code didn't actually say that medicine cats couldn't have kits either but it was treated as if it was part of the code.

An eagle soaring overhead reminded Sandpaw of where she was and how exposed she was despite the gradually abating fog. _Stay focused_, she reminded herself. In her short life, she had never been this way. She had not yet taken the mandatory apprentice journey to the Moonstone. Jealous as she had been when Longpaw had gone she didn't like travelling through an unknown territory. Her own Clan was definitely where she belonged.

A rock dislodged by her paw fell into the gorge. Sandpaw backed away from the edge. She'd decided this was the safest way to travel to the Moonstone. _That's ironic _she thought to herself. _That the safest route is alongside a deadly cliff with rushing water at the bottom. _Just to be sure she moved a few feet away from the edge and weaved her way around a few bushes.

A surprising scent reeked ahead of her in the bushes. _ShadowClan! _She realized. So they'd been this far into the territory and they'd marked it! _In fact_, Sandpaw turned around in her path and began to sniff back the way she had come. _ShadowClan scent all over the place._ It was stale, probably many days old, but it was there.

Sandpaw wished with all her heart that she had been sent to spy. Then she could report this back to Whitestorm, to Bluestar, to Redtail. She'd be the hero of her Clan. ThunderClan could make such use of this knowledge! WindClan apparently couldn't stop ShadowClan from getting this far into the territory and ShadowClan was marking territory brazenly as if they had every right to. After what she had seen the previous day, she did not believe that WindClan had agreed to have their territory marked by ShadowClan. So she knew that WindClan was weak or at least disadvantaged right now and ShadowClan wasn't following the warrior code under its new leader. ThunderClan had been so busy fighting RiverClan lately that they hadn't noticed the feud between their other two neighbours. Perhaps alliances could be formed or threats made. It was too dangerous pushing each other back over the Sunningrocks in battle, again and again for the sake of a small bit of territory and too much of a show of weakness if ThunderClan lost the Sunningrocks. Perhaps they could get involved in a greater battle.

Sandpaw was making her way alongside the gorge, trying to come up with ways to tell Bluestar what she knew without telling her where she had been, when a sudden worry occurred to her. She was leaving a scent trail. And in the same place that the ShadowClan cats had been. Mudclaw was already denouncing her at the next Gathering. She didn't want him accusing ThunderClan of siding with ShadowClan as well. If they were going to be in an alliance it should be of their own choosing. Besides Sandpaw didn't want her Clan associated with Brokenstar's dishonourable behaviour. Shame washed over her. She had been thinking about strategy like a warrior but she was behaving like a kit.

A rabbit scampering over a nearby copse reminded Sandpaw to get a hold of herself. Scents were not always easily distinguished on the moor, especially not on a day as foggy as today but any WindClan cat could still tell that the ThunderClan scent had come by more recently and that no ThunderClan cat was leaving scent marks. Her scent and even Mudclaw's threat might be overlooked in the face of the boldness of the new ShadowClan crimes.

Feeling rebellious and daring, Sandpaw darted after the rabbit. Startled, it hopped away but she managed to snag its hind leg in her claws. For a minute, she was dragged along behind it and her wounds from the day before stung. Then she reached out her other front paw and scratched the rabbit's other hind leg. The rabbit bucked to shake her off and Sandpaw decided to imagine she was practicing the battle move where she grabbed Whitestorm's ankles and launched herself onto his back. The rabbit was smaller than he was so it was even easier. She winced when it scratched her ear with its clawed paw and struggled to hold on as it bucked. She bit its neck but didn't manage to get in as clean a bite as she could. The rabbit struggled to hold onto its life as blood seeped from its neck and then died.

Sandpaw's ears and legs were sore and bloody but she was grinning from ear to ear. She'd caught plenty of rabbits before but never had she killed one in the way she just had. She was vaguely aware that the rabbit could just as easily have scratched her eyes out as torn her ear but she pushed that to the back of her mind. She'd won hadn't she? Didn't she have the right to feel triumphant? She caught her breath and then she began to munch on the rabbit. Either WindClan rabbits were faster, she realized, or there was less cover here to hinder their attempts to get away. Maybe she could demonstrate this in front of Whitestorm. He'd either praise her cleverness or tell her off for putting herself in danger. She'd just have to find out.

Sandpaw was halfway through eating the rabbit when it sunk in that she was still on WindClan territory eating stolen prey. _Mouse-brain! _She scolded herself. Nevertheless she forced herself to finish the rest of the meat, leaving only the fur and bones. She didn't want to get hungry on the rest of the way there or the way back. She had only until early afternoon at the latest. Sandpaw sighed, thinking back to the day before.

Right now the mist was beginning to let up. Sandpaw knew she would have to get going and that she couldn't leave rabbit bones lying around with ThunderClan scent on them. She rolled the mess of bones and fur up with her paws into a ball and rolled it over to the edge of the cliff. She poked her head around the ball and stared down into the gorge. When she jerked her head, the ball slid off the edge of the edge and fell onto a sharp rock jutting out of the side of the cliff. Sandpaw heard a bone crack and almost fell into the river after the mess of rabbit remains in shock. Her bones could have made that sound. Any cat's bones could make that sound. Anytime. Especially with the way that things were in the forest right now.

**Yes, Sandstorm had a tendency to break the warrior code if she could get away with it as an apprentice. She outgrew it though. That will be seen in this story. **


	10. Chapter 10: Tendrilkit

**Yeah, I don't own warriors but I do own Sandstorm's brother, Tendrilkit. Why has no one used this prefix? Unlike doves, ferrets, apples and fallows, they have actually been heard of in the Warriors forest. **

**Anyway some pretty sure proof that I don't own warriors is that last death in the next-to-latest book (yeah, my exams took so long that Night Whispers was no longer the latest book). Read it and find out who I mean.**

**Chapter 10: Tendrilkit**

Sandpaw had underestimated how long it would take to reach Highstones. It was almost sunhigh and she could still see cliffs and crags ahead of her and no end of WindClan territory in sight. Reluctantly she turned back the way she had come, hating to give up now. She would have to wait for her trip to Highstones with Bluestar. She wondered if she should try to catch another rabbit on the way back but decided against it. Breaking the warrior code twice in one day was not a good idea. The air was no longer damp and misty and suddenly hot on her back, baking her skin. She looked longingly over the edge of the cliff. If only she could drink that water. But she couldn't and she had to keep moving. The warriors and elders would notice her absence before long if they hadn't already.

Sunhigh came and went. Sandpaw didn't see or smell any WindClan patrols and was grateful for that. She didn't know how much longer her good luck would last. Just as she was starting to wonder if it wouldn't be easier to leave the gorge and cross the territory more quickly, she spotted dense woodland up ahead of her. Exhausted though she was, Sandpaw broke into a run. She dashed straight into the cover of the trees and landed there, panting. But this wasn't ThunderClan territory. It was RiverClan territory. And yet, there was a recent ShadowClan scent. Sandpaw frowned. Was ShadowClan secretly marking every territory but that of her own Clan? No, they weren't. Sandpaw only smelled the trail of two cats that had recently walked through here but no scent marks. But this time she shook off her curiosity. It was probably just a couple of prey-stealers. Let RiverClan deal with it.

She turned towards the direction of the ThunderClan border but hesitated at the sound of the rushing river. The cliff was not so steep here and she could get down for a drink. She was so thirsty at this point that it did not seem like such a big deal. She could only get a quick drink and then go.

Carefully, Sandpaw limped her way down the now-narrow slope. Her paw pads were cracked and bleeding by the time she reached the river. She lowered her head to drink, relishing the taste of the water. Once she'd taken a good long drink, she padded along the side of the river, avoiding the wettest rocks which would cause her to fall in. The Twoleg bridge Sandpaw could see from her own territory could be seen from where she was out of the corner of her eye. Sandpaw made her way towards it, pausing only to drink again twice.

Then just as she pulled herself up the bank around the bridge, she sensed she was not alone. A RiverClan cat was on the bridge, concealed behind one of the posts, downwind from the tired ThunderClan apprentice but sitting very still. Sandpaw was sure the cat could hear her even if he or she couldn't smell her.

When the cat slid out from behind the post on the bridge, Sandpaw backed into a clump of tall grasses, startling a large bullfrog that was seated there. It leapt angrily out of the clump of grass and landed in the river with a huge splash. Sandpaw felt the splash soak her fur but knew there was a chance that the RiverClan cat would think he had heard the bullfrog not her. But she received a shock as she recognized the red-brown coat, the crooked jaw and the wise confident eyes. Crookedstar, the RiverClan leader!

Crookedstar padded out onto the middle of the bridge. Sandpaw tensed. But then he sat on his haunches and beckoned forward with his tail. Sandpaw relaxed. Then the reek of ShadowClan hit her nose and she tensed again. She spotted three ShadowClan cats walking up to the bridge as if they owned it. Brokenstar, a silver tom Sandpaw didn't recognize and a tabby tom. Crookedstar dipped his head in greeting. Brokenstar dipped his head back but sat on the bridge and raised his head to loom over the RiverClan leader in a very disrespectful way. The silver tom sat on one side of Crookedstar and the tabby tom sat on the far side, hemming him in. Sandpaw could see Crookedstar's surprised expression but he earned back a smidgen of respect from the apprentice when he remained calm.

"You summoned us, _Crookedstar_," Brokenstar said the elderly tom's name as if he would like to use an epithet instead.

"I believe that you summoned me," Crookedstar said smoothly, staring the younger leader down. "I believe that I graciously agreed to meet you on my territory. And I believe that as you are guests here, I have a right to know what was so urgent that it couldn't wait until the next Gathering." Sandpaw felt a mixture of admiration and dubiousness. Why didn't Crookedstar have any other warriors with him?

"Ah, yes," Brokenstar backed off slightly, clearly impressed by the elder tom's composure even if Sandpaw would bet a moon's worth of fresh-kill he wouldn't admit it. "I have spoken with you about the previous leaf-bare have I not?"

"I believe you were there, yes," meowed Crookedstar. "Raggedstar expressed his regrets. You were lucky indeed not to lose a single cat despite everything."

"It wasn't luck," Brokenstar was obviously disgruntled by the reference to the previous leader. "Our Clan is strong. Our cats are strong. They can weather hardship."

"You didn't come here for small talk, Brokenstar."

"No," Sandpaw could barely make out the sneer on Brokenstar's face.

"Well, then," Crookedstar wrapped his tail around his paws. "You have some plan of action, I take it? About winter? And it somehow involves my Clan?"

Brokenstar's eyes were wide open now and his ears laid back. "Yes, indeed. I have some plan of action. For my Clan. All of them. You may have noticed that a Clan grows much larger when kits do not die whenever they are exposed to winter weather."

"Yes, indeed," agreed Crookedstar. "Which is why we keep them inside when its particularly cold. But you did not come here to chat about kits."

"No," Brokenstar's eyes narrowed. "I came here because ShadowClan is much bigger than it was this time last year. So big, in fact, that I must admit we are having some trouble feeding our Clan."

"It's been a harsh year," agreed Crookedstar, obviously surprised that Brokenstar would admit such a thing to an enemy. Sandpaw was surprised too. Any smart Clan cat would not admit such a thing out loud unless they could be reasonably certain of the other Clans total weakness. She knew RiverClan wasn't weak even if she wouldn't say so to any of their faces. Why they got fat on fish every year and were bigger than any other Clan cats. They might not expend as much energy as ThunderClan getting the fresh-kill, Sandpaw thought loyally, and be a bit too fat for her liking but they sure weren't weak if they could keep Tigerclaw and Lionheart and Redtail at bay over the Sunningrocks for so long. At the moment, though, a piece of grass was twitching her nose. Sandpaw wanted to sneeze. Why did this only happen when she was stalking prey or spying?

"It has," agreed Brokenstar. "Harsher for my Clan, I think than yours but harsh not because we have too few cats to do all the jobs but because we have too many."

Sandpaw could hear another frog ribbiting away in a clump of grass nearby. All she needed to do was find something to toss in its direction. A rock or a piece of wood. Her heart was beating harder than ever. Anytime that she imagined herself as a spy, she sat confidently, perfectly still so that even prey would walk up to her and ignore her, not a hair on her pelt out of place. But no. She could feel her tail getting tired of sitting in one place. It was going to twitch any minute. And she was sitting uncomfortably on her hind paws. And...was she shaking with nervousness. Sandpaw felt like Ravenpaw. It was a good thing that Dustpaw couldn't see her now. Dustpaw...why was she thinking of him? _Focus_, she reminded herself. _Pretend you're doing this to impress Whitestorm. _His calm face popped into her head. She felt relaxed. She listened to the frog carefully, trying to pinpoint its exact location.

Sandpaw tossed a piece of rock straight in the direction of the frog. As it jumped into the water, she dashed straight under the bridge. As she skidded to a halt, she felt a rock cut her paw pad. Drops of blood spread out of her paw onto the unnatural Twoleg material, jagged with years, that was holding the bridge in place. Above the bridge she could hear Crookedstar and Brokenstar arguing briefly about the frog and then head off somewhere else when one of Brokenstar's lackeys scented Twolegs coming. Quietly as she could, she settled herself into a crook in the old rock-like stuff, right under the edge of the bridge. She tried to ignore the noisy feet trapping over her head and settled down. She felt her exhaustion catch up to her. Maybe if she closed her eyes for only a minute...

Sandpaw suddenly felt herself tumbling. She landed on her feet in a clearing that looked like Fourtrees. She shook herself and looked around. Cautiously, she reached out a paw and touched the Great Rock. She heard a scuffling in the bushes behind her. Standing in the grass, with the cool wind blowing it across his face, was her tiny brown-and-white brother, Tendrilkit, with stars in his fur.

Sandpaw wanted to dash over and lick his cheek but he was in StarClan now and she didn't feel comfortable doing that. Tendrilkit had been the smallest kit in the nursery even when Dustpaw's younger litter had also been there. That was why he was named Tendrilkit. That and his strangely hooked claws. Redtail claimed they came from his grandfather, Adderfang's, side of the family.

"You're not supposed to be here, Sandpaw," Tendrilkit whispered. "I shouldn't be here either. But I just had to come because I want to deliver a warning."

Sandpaw inched closer. She was not often speechless. Tendrilkit looked wise and old, unlike when he had been alive. "Is it really you?" she whispered.

Tendrilkit nodded. He smiled but there was sadness behind his smile. Sandpaw shivered. He was frightening her and she didn't like that. She stepped back slightly, and then looked apprehensively at her brother. Had he noticed?

Tendrilkit leaned forward. "You will not find the answers you seek at the Moonstone," he whispered. "Wait until the arrival of the flame-coloured cat. He will come to the forest and there will be great change."

Sandpaw remembered the orange cat standing over another cat, having just killed him. She shivered. Who was he and who was this other cat? And had she heard clashing claws in the background. She was sure she had. And what about Dustpaw? The cat had said something about him. How was he involved?

"Tendrilkit," Sandpaw squeaked. "What does this vision have to do with Dustpaw?"

Tendrilkit frowned slightly. "Well, I always did say that he paid far too much attention to you."

Tendrilkit _had _said that. Sandpaw hadn't thought he was serious.

A shadow flashed out of the corner of Sandpaw's eye. Sandpaw looked warily behind her. Tendrilkit had said she wasn't supposed to be here and neither was he. Were StarClan coming to punish them? Instinctively, she felt herself stepping closer to her brother's spirit, feeling comforting warmth emanating from him. She looked at the sky above her head. It was unnaturally blue, too perfect, bluer than any sky in the living world. Sandpaw shivered.

"Are you afraid of me?" whispered Tendrilkit. His tail drooped. Sandpaw looked into his eyes, filled with the wisdom of StarClan but also with the hurt of a young kit whose only littermate had made him feel bad. "No," she mumbled. "Of this place. Are the rest of StarClan around."

"They agreed to let me come."

"Glad to hear it."

"You needed this message."

"That's for sure."

"You're only on the fringes of StarClan's territory." Tendrilkit pointed a paw around them. "And you should probably get back to your Clan."

"Not yet," insisted Sandpaw. "Tendrilkit, did you hear what I just heard Brokenstar and Crookedstar talking about."  
"Yes, I did," Tendrilkit nodded. "This meeting is something Bluestar should hear about. She should also know what ShadowClan is doing to WindClan. Be careful Sandpaw. ThunderClan may soon stand alone against Brokenstar."

Sandpaw nodded. "I'm telling Bluestar. As soon as I get back."

"You might want to go get Spottedleaf's herbs first. And some quick prey." Tendrilkit's eyes were sympathetic. "You were supposed to be hunting for the elders today."

"Oh yes, thanks," Sandpaw could see her brother's outline fading. "Wait!" She rushed forward but ended up running into the river. Gasping to get a foothold on the slippery rocks, Sandpaw's paws fumbled and she spat water out of her mouth. As she righted herself on the shallow river bed, she realized that where she was the water only came up slightly above her knees. _Well, that's embarrassing. I'm glad no cat saw that. I'll never get close to water again._


	11. Chapter 11: Bluestar and Oakheart

**I don't own warriors. Insert funny comment I'm too lazy to write.**

**Chapter 11: Bluestar and Oakheart**

It was well past sunhigh when Sandpaw returned to camp with the herbs in her mouth. After much of a struggle, she had managed to carry a mouthful of watermint and the mouse by its tail back into camp. It seemed a waste to bury just one piece of prey Sandpaw thought bitterly. If only she could have caught something on the way back but she had been hurrying back. She had scented prey animals along the way but failed to catch a shrew and a squirrel, one hearing her approach and bolting to its den; the other dashing up a tree and leaving her afraid to use valuable time following it. Runningwind met her at the gorse tunnel. "Where were you?" he accused disgustedly.

Sandpaw couldn't reply with the load in her mouth. She angled her head so that the mouse swung in his direction. Runningwind hissed in disgust, "It dragged in the dirt." He sighed. "I'll take that." He grabbed the mouse in his teeth and pulled it out of Sandpaw's mouth, shredding its tail and knocking a few stems of watermint from Sandpaw's grasp. Runningwind didn't stay to help her pick them up. He just squeezed through the gorse tunnel and bounded off to the elders' den.

When Sandpaw made her way into the camp, she was accosted by Longtail immediately. "Where have you been? You'd better have something good to say to Bluestar. Apprentices should be where they're supposed to be on time. You'll never be a warrior like this."

Sandpaw dropped the watermint in her mouth. "Oh shut up, Longtail. You're hardly even a warrior yourself!"

"Sandpaw," Bluestar had emerged from the nursery and was standing sternly in the clearing, eyes fixed on the apprentice. "I'd like to see you in my den immediately. Longtail, will you take the watermint to Spottedleaf, please?"

"Yes, Bluestar," replied Longtail, all politeness and submission once again. Sandpaw trailed after Bluestar to her den, dragging her feet. She could still feel the enormity of Tendrilkit's presence and had almost forgotten what trouble she would be in for neglecting her tasks for the day.

"Sandpaw," Bluestar said sternly once she had settled herself in the leader's den with Sandpaw crouching restlessly at the opening. "I heard from Spottedleaf that you haven't been seen since the dawn patrol went out." Sandpaw nodded. It was true. She couldn't think of a thing to say in her defence. Nothing that her leader wanted to hear, anyway.

I heard you talking to those two kits this morning," Bluestar continued. "Yes, I could hear you from my den," she added to Sandpaw's perplexed look. "There's a reason the leader's den is under that rock. It's shaped to make it easier to listen to other cats talk."

Sandpaw nodded. _Don't let your guard down. She's going to punish you. _What had she said to the two kits that measured up to this? And how to tell Bluestar what she knew when she was being punished?

"Obviously, you haven't been fighting a dog or you would have told me. At least I hope you would have told me if there was a dog loose in our territory or any other animal we should know about. It's also very important for the sake of the kits that we know for sure if there actually is a fox on our territory or if an apprentice is just boosting." Bluestar's expression became more severe now. "You seem to be sneaking off for long periods of time, Sandpaw. Apprentices need to be where older cats can find them. Have I made myself clear?"

"Yes, Bluestar," agreed Sandpaw. "And there _is _something I need to tell you." She could take a few moons waiting on the elders with Willowpelt and Runningwind. The hardest part would be getting used to Runningwind's angry stare now, she thought. He didn't have to be so touchy about the whole thing. It wasn't as if she'd made his job that much harder. The elders couldn't be completely without food. Graypaw, Ravenpaw and Dustpaw must have been out hunting at some point. "I went on WindClan territory yesterday," she admitted. Bluestar's eyes widened with shock. "I smelled ShadowClan scent marks all over the place. And I was almost killed by an invading ShadowClan patrol."

"Sandpaw," Bluestar gasped. "Do not ever go on another Clan's territory again! Not unless you've been chosen to go to the Moonstone or sent to do so by a warrior for a very good reason. What on earth were you thinking? No, you weren't thinking," her eyes hardened with anger.

Sandpaw gulped but she remembered what she had to say, "The ShadowClan cats were talking about invading the territory. It definitely sounded like they weren't allowed there by WindClan. And there was something else, too, about a secret meeting between Brokenstar and Crookedstar." Bluestar didn't need to know she had been on RiverClan territory today. She wished she had heard the content of the meeting between the two toms but she hadn't and that was that. Maybe Bluestar would find out somehow. Send spies or something.

Bluestar sighed. "You mean Brokentail, right? It sounds as if ShadowClan might have an alliance with RiverClan instead of WindClan. I always thought that we were right to tell Oakheart no." She gave herself a shake and stared at nothing. Sandpaw was surprised at the sudden lack of anger in Bluestar's eyes. "We've never been close allies with RiverClan, at least not in my lifetime." Bluestar was talking to herself now. "Those Sunningrocks have always been hanging over our heads as an issue. But there was a time when we lived in relative peace. Then Oakheart...well, Oakheart had to bring the issue up again. Said we'd kept Sunningrocks for long enough but they were historically his. Can you believe it, he said they were his? Not the whole Clan's? Arrogant fool!" Now Bluestar sounded angry. "And he was just waiting for our Clan to get smaller and weaker! He could have started up this war when Sunstar was still leader or at the beginning of my leadership when our Clan was still strong and still growing, but no. I just know he was waiting for that last greencough epidemic. I had just admitted to the other Clans that we had lost several warriors elders and kits and even our medicine cat when Crookedstar gave his report and Oakheart spoke up about the Sunningrocks!" Bluestar groaned. Now that she had ended her rant, she reached up and licked her right front paw and rubbed it across her face, thoughtfully.

Had the mere mention of the RiverClan deputy made her so angry that she forgot about Sandpaw and how much she needed to be punished? "You don't think we should try to find out what's going on in WindClan territory? Send some spies? Maybe we can fight the other two Clans." Sandpaw wanted so much to make her Clan powerful again. The elders spoke so nostalgically. You needed to take what elders said about things being so much better a long time ago with a grain of salt but she was so sick of everyone claiming her Clan was weak. Maybe they could be strong again.

Bluestar returned to earth. "Sandpaw that is quite enough, thank you. Whatever troubles WindClan is having with its neighbours is none of our concern. You need to focus more on your apprentice duties, youngster. Which is why you are in charge of rebuilding the dirtplace tunnel." Sandpaw opened her mouth to protest. "Starting today. _Including_ moving piles of dirt." She stepped back to indicate that Sandpaw was dismissed.

Sandpaw turned grumpily out of the den. "Sandpaw," Bluestar meowed. The apprentice turned back. "I know this is hard waiting for your mentor to recover from his injury but you need to learn to expend the energy by helping your Clan, not by invading other Clans' territories. Please remember that in future." Her eyes were not unkind but her voice was firm.


	12. Chapter 12: Tempted Fate

**I still don't own Warriors or any of these characters but Tendrilkit.**

**Chapter 12: Tempted Fate**

After Sandpaw exited Bluestar's den, Redtail ushered his daughter to the dirtplace tunnel. "I hope you're happy," he grimly uttered. "We had to send Graypaw and Ravenpaw off to hunt for the elders when they should have been doing battle training. Just because your mentor is temporarily out of commission does not let you off the hook for your duties, Sandpaw."

"Yeah, cats keep telling me that," grumbled Sandpaw. She had heard enough of it already, thanks. And Bluestar hadn't really listened to her. She knew she should have hunted for the elders right away but really it wasn't as if she had been dead weight all morning. _And afternoon _she admitted guiltily to herself.

Redtail glared at her. "Sandpaw, I want you to think long and hard about that while you fix the dirtplace. You can also think hard about talking back to the senior warriors. And after you finish with that, you can hunt for your Clan until sunhigh tomorrow without taking any food for yourself.

Sandpaw gasped. "What? Bluestar didn't say..." "Bluestar did not come up with this punishment. It was my idea," meowed Redtail firmly. He pushed Sandpaw towards the dirtplace tunnel. "Darkstripe, take it from here." He turned around and walked away. _Oh great, _thought Sandpaw. _He had to put the worst possible cat in charge of me. _Darkstripe's resentment of other mentors had abated somewhat since he'd been allowed to mentor Longtail but his scorn of apprentices in general remained unchanged. Longtail often acted afraid of his former mentor even though this was fear tinged with respect.

"Well, then," growled Darkstripe. "Get moving."

That evening, Sandpaw tried to ignore her rumbling stomach. Ravenpaw and Graypaw ate together in front of the apprentices' den but Dustpaw joined Sandpaw under a fern by the gorse tunnel. "I think that's a harsh punishment," he meowed. "Especially since you learned something about enemy territory. I think if anything Bluestar should have rewarded you." When Sandpaw remained sulkily silent, he added, "And I'd sneak you some food if I could."

"No," Sandpaw shook her head. "Don't starve yourself on my account. You've had a hard day. Go and eat." Dustpaw hesitated, then headed off to the fresh-kill pile. Sandpaw crawled out from under the fern and began grooming her face with her paws. Better at least get something done. Runningwind, walking in her direction, pointedly turned his back on her and stalked away. Sandpaw stuck her tongue out at him from behind. She knew it was immature but she couldn't help herself. They'd been such good friends just that morning hadn't they? Why did this have to happen? Sandpaw thought of Tendrilkit. If she still had a brother, she might have someone to forgive her no matter what, who would always be her friend after the end of the action even if they were mad at her. Spottedleaf would never be mad at Willowpelt for very long or Brindleface at Frostfur. Then again, Dustpaw and Ravenpaw were not close, what with Dustpaw being so dauntingly tough and Ravenpaw being so feeble that he usually acted afraid of Dustpaw. She wanted him back so badly now.

Just then Dustpaw dropped a half-eaten mouse and strode over to where Sandpaw was sitting. "Can you believe Graypaw?" he hissed. "That little furball just thinks he's the greatest. And Ravenpaw thinks that Graypaw is the greatest too!"

He may claim it was arrogance that had driven him away from the other two apprentices but Sandpaw thought that it was something to do with her. She could see Graypaw's eyes following Dustpaw smugly towards Sandpaw. Ravenpaw, to his credit, was keeping out of the whole thing, concentrating hard on the blackbird he and Graypaw were sharing. As she and Dustpaw shared tongues, Sandpaw thought that maybe she could get by without a brother since she had such a great best friend.

That night Sandpaw and Dustpaw slept on one side of the apprentices' den and Graypaw and Ravenpaw slept on the other. The sudden polarization of the apprentices' den worried Sandpaw but it didn't last long. She and Graypaw made up and Dustpaw made a concerted effort to wind up Ravenpaw less. As the days passed Runningwind became civil to Sandpaw again and so did everyone else. Sandpaw began to forget what she had been worried about. Then one day Sandpaw was helping Willowpelt as the older she-cat struggled with Patchpelt's ticks. Sandpaw wasn't using the mouse bile, thankfully, but she was in charge of searching the bedding for any ticks that had ended up in the moss as the elders' ticks had been cleaned in the past. One-Eye had been complaining about them that morning.

Sandpaw was surprised that Bluestar had agreed to Tigerclaw's suggestion that Willowpelt and Runningwind's punishments had been extended, although apprentices were sometimes designated to help with the details. Maybe she wanted to speed up their training, maybe she wanted to make an example, but either way Sandpaw wasn't complaining. Willowpelt, on the other hand, nice though she was in general, was feeling the humiliation heavily and it showed.

"Quit fidgeting," she hissed at Patchpelt. Patchpelt flinched. "I'm sorry," muttered Willowpelt. "I didn't mean it." But she did look quite upset.

"Bluestar should end your punishment by now," sighed Patchpelt, sounding very sympathetic and patient, the most easygoing of the elders, which he was known for being.

Rosetail, the only other elder in the den at the moment (the others were out to drink from a stream and stretch their legs with Spottedleaf) nodded. "How about I take over there?" she offered. "I'm sure that Bluestar won't mind."

"Bluestar won't mind but Tigerclaw will," answered Willowpelt. "And I set out to do a job for my Clan today. I will finish it. Sandpaw, you can check that bedding and listen to us bicker like kits at the same time," she added to the apprentice. Sandpaw returned to the bedding but then she heard a yell from outside the den. "ShadowClan invading! We need reinforcements!" She recognized the high-pitched nervousness of Ravenpaw.

Rosetail, Willowpelt, Sandpaw and Patchpelt all peeked out of the elders' den, their tasks forgotten. The queens were looking from the nursery and Sandpaw could hear catnappers stirring in the warriors' den. Bluestar approached the apprentice. "Where are the invaders?"she meowed urgently. Ravenpaw told her their location. Tigerclaw, Darkstripe, Longtail and Dustpaw were fighting them right then and there. Sandpaw scratched at the ground, paws ready to join her denmate in battle.

Bluestar rapidly assembled a fighting force of Speckletail, Mousefur, Runningwind, Willowpelt, Ravenpaw, Sandpaw and the now-healed Whitestorm with herself at the head. As the group ran through the trees, Sandpaw drilled Ravenpaw as quickly as she could.

"How many cats? And was there already fighting when you were sent for help?"

"A lot. And no, they weren't even fighting yet. Tigerclaw just sent me away because he thinks of me as the weak link."

"Quit complaining about how you keep messing up and tell me everything!"

"Sandpaw!" hissed Whitestorm. "Do not harass your denmate!"

Ravenpaw meowed softly, "Dustpaw had a plan. So maybe they don't need reinforcements. But I was sent to get them just in case."

Sandpaw didn't have time to ask about the plan because Tigerclaw appeared at the head of the four-cat patrol and approached Bluestar. "Greetings, Bluestar," he meowed, dipping his head to her. "Did Ravenpaw manage to get back to camp and find you? Or is he still wandering in circles daydreaming?"

"He's right here!" shouted Sandpaw. Ravenpaw, surprised, blinked gratefully at her.

"Well then," meowed Tigerclaw. "So you managed to do that right at least." He returned to his conversation with the leader. "Bluestar, we managed to route a patrol of ShadowClan cats invading our territory. We think we have them fooled into thinking these four cats were a whole Clan. It was young Dustpaw who came up with the idea of appearing from all sides to confuse them about how many cats there were and to call each other by other names besides our own. They fled thinking that our whole Clan was here!" Tigerclaw snorted. "I almost wish they had stayed to fight. We would have taught them a thing or two about what only four ThunderClan cats are capable of."

"Well, I'm glad they did not," meowed Bluestar. "And you must be very proud, Dustpaw."

Dustpaw was still proud that evening when he told Sandpaw, Graypaw and Ravenpaw all about what had happened.

"And then they had to stop to let Stumpytail get his breath back. Can you believe it? And then..."

"When did we come in?"asked Ravenpaw.

"Oh, after Russetfur actually said we'd brought the whole Clan." Dustpaw looked extremely amused. "And then Blackstar told Tigerclaw that we had won this time but they would be back. Ha! Little do they know, there were only four of us!" He snickered loudly.

"Yes, Dustpaw, now remember that gloating only leads to ignorance of the enemy." Tigerclaw had approached the apprentices without them noticing. "Bluestar is going to the Moonstone tomorrow to speak with StarClan about the many threats and invaders we face. She's chosen Sandpaw, Dustpaw and Ravenpaw to go with her." Sandpaw gasped. _Oh no, why now? _Ravenpaw and Dustpaw clearly hadn't acquired reasons to avoid WindClan territory in their recent pasts. They wore big grins.

"But not me?" asked Graypaw.

"It will happen when you're older," Dustpaw assured the other apprentice. Ravenpaw looked excited for once. "Across WindClan territory?" he meowed. "To the Highstones on the other side? Already?"

"Yes, Ravenpaw," sighed Tigerclaw. "And I'm coming too, as is Whitestorm. So we will make sure you learn a lot on the way about other Clans. You will be made to keep your wits about you." He unsheathed his long claws. Ravenpaw shivered. Finished talking to the apprentices, Tigerclaw walked away.

"Why do you become so weak whenever you see your mentor's claws, Ravenpaw?" asked Sandpaw. At least she could be glad she still wasn't the most scaredy apprentice in the den. "They're sharp but it's good for the Clan. Get over it."

"Hey," growled Ravenpaw. "You don't have to spar with him in training practice, okay. He almost took my eye out once. And last time, I think he was trying to tear me limb from limb!"

"I almost got my eyes scratched out by _prey _a while back," Sandpaw meowed. "By a rabbit when I caught ahold of it with my claws. That's simply what life is like, Ravenpaw. You can't go around being afraid of everything."

"You don't know him," whispered Ravenpaw.

"What?" asked Dustpaw.

"He said you can't know what it's like to fight Tigerclaw when he's not your mentor," meowed Graypaw, quickly. Even so, he flashed Ravenpaw a look of warning.

Dustpaw narrowed his eyes. "I know what it's like to fight Tigerclaw. He's taken me for battle training, you know. And I did get a wounded shoulder. And he did mock my battle skills. And he did insult my mentor. But he did it to toughen me up and to remind me that life in the forest isn't easy you know. And I don't like what he said about Redtail but I don't feel the need to whine about it. So you can shut up. Without Tigerclaw we would have a very weak Clan." Dustpaw finished his speech, the most Sandpaw had heard him say at once in awhile.

Ravenpaw narrowed his eyes at Dustpaw. "And I'm not so sure of that!" Then he turned tail and headed back into the apprentices' den. Dustpaw rolled his eyes. "Well, that's that, then."

"Hey," Graypaw gasped, clearly not sure which of the older apprentices he should agree with, "He's just worried, okay? It's how he is. He gets nervous."

"No, it's not!" hissed Ravenpaw from the den. "I'm tired of how you all talk down to me!" Sandpaw could hear his black form turning away from the rest of them.


End file.
